Cousins in search of the past: Norman "Pard" Walsh, Warner Montgomery, and Keith Gourdin on the expedition to Belvidere Plantation in February 2008. During the summer and fall of 2007, the water level of Lakes Marion and Moultrie fell dramatically as a result of the continuing four- year drought in South Carolina. Dr. John Leader, S.C. state archaeologist, was called by officials of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Santee- Cooper Authority to come quick. "Valuable artifacts on the exposed lake bed are being stolen and vandalized!"

For weeks, day and night, Leader, DNR wildlife officers, and Santee- Cooper security officers patrolled the shoreline of the newly exposed Santee River. They were shocked by the extent and cleverness of poachers. Graves were robbed. Wells were excavated. Cisterns were pillaged. Septic tanks were dug out to depths of 20 feet, and old home places were ransacked. All for the sake of artifacts that could be sold at flea markets or antique shops. This, declared Leader, was a cultural disaster in the making.

Remains of Belvidere house before clearing Local law enforcement agencies were alerted to be on the lookout for trucks and vans laden with muddy skeletons, pots, ceramics, bricks, and ironware. The local press was brought in to educate the public on the harm being done. Hunting and fishing organizations were contacted and asked to help. Signs were nailed up at all marinas and boat landings. In the end, the only thing that stopped the damage was rising water in the spring.

In early February, Dr. Leader and Warner Montgomery led an Explorers Club expedition to two areas of Lake Marion most attractive to the graverobbers, the lost town of Ferguson and the old Belvidere Plantation, both of which were accessed from Eutaw Springs. Included in the group were Keith Gourdin and Dr. Pard Walsh, both of whom were related to the Sinklers, former owners of Belvidere Plantation.

Walsh, Gourdin, and Dr. Richard Porcher followed up the trip with several more visits to Belvidere and cleared brush from the ruins of the old home place which lasted from 1802 to 1940. The wooden frame two- story house was built on an open brick foundation with arched windows and elegant brick steps in front leading to the first floor. The brick walls adjacent to the steps were plastered. Within the brick foundation were four rooms with plastered walls used for food storage.

Remains of Belvidere house after clearing, March 2008 The house had a gable roof and was built on an asymmetric plan of two unequal rooms in front and a central hall flanked by two rooms in the rear. The four rooms had cross ventilation, adequate for the day, and were heated by fireplaces with chimneys built against the side walls. There were two entrance doors in the front side- by- side, one entering the smaller room, one the larger. Across the front was a wide porch.

A separate stairwell led to the upper floor and interior stairs to the attic. Over the years, guest rooms were added to either side of the house. The bathrooms and the kitchen were outbuildings.

The house faced east toward Eutaw Creek and the Santee River. There was a footbridge/pull ferry across the creek to Eutaw Plantation (another Sinkler home). Behind the house was the Negro settlement (20 homes in 1854). Between the Negro settlement and the house were formal gardens with a sun dial and a mounted bell and several wells and a cistern. Oat and rye fields and pasture land lay to the south. Beyond the pasture and close to Nelson Ferry Road were the horse stables and the race course.

This aerial view taken in March 2008 shows the location of Belvidere and Eutaw Plantation houses which were covered by Lake Marion in 1940. Photo by Pard Walsh. That was 1940. What remained in 2008 were portions of the main home's brick foundation, scattered outlines of Negro homes, a horse trough, and vandalized remains of wells, cisterns, and septic tanks…and, of course, memories of a once glorious time.

(Next week: Belvidere Pilgrimage, 2008)

Ann Jennings (l) and Carroll Furman are shocked to find that graverobbers had hit a Negro cemetery near Belvidere Plantation after the waters receded from Lake Marion.